This invention concerns puppets useful for entertainment, instructional and demonstration purposes, and more particularly relates to puppets operable by a single hand and easily mastered by children.
There are many different kinds of puppets designed to produce entertaining movements based upon the manipulative efforts of the operator. U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,236 describes a puppet which may be deployed from a flattened storage state to a functional state enabling single hand operation. The advantage of the flattened storage state is that the puppet may be included within a book or multi-media kit whose subject content is related to the appearance of the puppet.
However, the puppet of U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,236, even in its flattened state, is of an appreciable thickness caused by six layers of stiff paper or cardboard sheet stock. Also, a certain amount of cost is involved in the fabrication and assembly of three separate components that comprise the puppet.
A desirable feature of a puppet for use by children, teachers and instructors is the ability to control facial expression, and the associated provision of a movable mouth adapted to mimic speech and capable of grasping objects. Such features have not heretofore been available in a puppet deployable from a flat precursor structure and easily operable by a single hand.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a puppet adapted for single hand manipulation.
It is another object of this invention to provide a puppet as in the foregoing object having controllable facial expression and a movable mouth.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a puppet of the aforesaid nature which can be easily deployed from a flat precursor structure representing the storage state of the puppet.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a puppet of the aforesaid nature of simple, durable construction amenable to low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.